PM Morrison considering moving Australian embassy to Jerusalem

Published: 16 October 2018

Last updated: 4 March 2024

Prime Minister expected to announce today that he is considering following Donald Trump’s move, following discussions with the Liberal Party's candidate for Wentworth, Dave Sharma, who is the former ambassador to Israel

Scott Morrison considering controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital (SMH)
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is considering recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in a historic change of policy that would align Australia with Donald Trump’s controversial shift but jar with much of the Western world and risk angering Arab and Muslim nations.

Mr Morrison will announce on Tuesday that he will also initiate a review of Australia’s support for the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, and have Australia vote against Palestine’s leadership of a large United Nations voting bloc of developing nations – also both key Trump policies and top priorities of Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Jerusalem announcement is likely to reverberate around the world as Australia would become only the second major country after the US to shift its position on the contentious issue of that goes to the heart of the intractable Israel-Palestine conflict that has ground on for decades and cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

Australia may move embassy in Israel to Jerusalem (AAP/Guardian)
Australia could follow US president Donald Trump’s lead and move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is expected to make an announcement on Tuesday as part of a foreign policy statement on Israel in Canberra.

Morrison, an evangelical Christian, has credited the Liberal party’s Wentworth byelection candidate Dave Sharma, a former Australian ambassador to Israel, with raising the issue.

Scott Morrison open to following Donald Trump in moving Israel embassy to Jerusalem (ABC)
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated he is open to moving Australia's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The move would follow the United States, which reversed decades of foreign policy by opening an embassy in Jerusalem this year.

Mr Morrison's announcement followed talks with the Liberal Party's candidate for this weekend's Wentworth by-election, former ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma.

Photo: Jerusalem Western Wall (JTA)